interestrateripoff Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/apr/03/honda-considers-suspending-uk-production Honda could be forced to halt production at its car plant in Swindon next month as the repercussions of Japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami reach British factories.At a crunch meeting this week, the Japanese carmaker will agree a plan on how to tackle the growing shortage of key components such as satnavs. Executives will discuss a range of options, including a temporary closure of the Swindon plant, which employs about 3,000 staff, or a period of reduced production. The plant makes about 165,000 Civics, CR-V compact SUVs, and Jazz superminis a year and is braced for a shortage of electronic, electrical and brake parts. Each car comprises about 20,000 parts, 10% to 15% of which come from Japan. A Honda spokesman said: "All scenarios are a possibility. There will be an impact, although it won't be till May. We don't yet know what to do to get around the issue, but a decision will be made some time this week." I wonder what this will mean for the wages of those working at the plant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbot26 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Honda operates a working time account for all of it's workforce which allows any associate to take paid time off and then effectively owe the company hours (up to -250) which are then paid back hour by hour. From what I've been told the system works fairly well, in any case a lot of Honda parts come from Japan which is pretty fecked at the moment, no point in having 3000 workers in when they can't build anything! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interestrateripoff Posted April 3, 2011 Author Share Posted April 3, 2011 Honda operates a working time account for all of it's workforce which allows any associate to take paid time off and then effectively owe the company hours (up to -250) which are then paid back hour by hour. From what I've been told the system works fairly well, in any case a lot of Honda parts come from Japan which is pretty fecked at the moment, no point in having 3000 workers in when they can't build anything! Assuming a 8 hr day that's roughly 31 days they can have a shutdown for. Judging the state Japan is in I'm guessing supply problems will take some time to resolve especially if they are having rolling black outs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RufflesTheGuineaPig Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Japans economy is never going to recover. Who is going to source parts from a country which is prone to earthquakes/tsunamis. Plenty of other places to buy from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Hun Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Japans economy is never going to recover. Who is going to source parts from a country which is prone to earthquakes/tsunamis. The Japanese? They have plenty of experience dealing with this sort of thing, they will quickly adapt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topher Bear Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Yes, but have the workers recovered from the last enforced shutdown. Swindon is already suffering quite badly at the moment. With nearbye raf lyneham shutting next year, i'm already seeing the effects of this, particularly in calne. In this area honda is a pretty big employer. I think many workers suffered financially last time due to overlarge mortgages. This could a step too far. I will watch with interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken_ichikawa Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Japans economy is never going to recover. Who is going to source parts from a country which is prone to earthquakes/tsunamis. Plenty of other places to buy from. Yup Apple for instance used to source screens for most of its products from Japan. 3 days ago they found a company in Taiwan to make them. Toyota has some massive backup factories in Guangzhao and Zhuhai as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken_ichikawa Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 The Japanese? They have plenty of experience dealing with this sort of thing, they will quickly adapt. Not so sure about it tbh as Japanese quality has been declining for a while. The face saving kill yourself if something goes wrong ideology has vanished and corporates are just like western corporates they deny problems. Did we see Toyota boss commit hiri kiri when his cars killed people? Did we see JAL boss (though he did take a pay cut so he was paid the same as most of his employees) cut open his belly from going bankrupt the third time? DId the TEMPCO boss cut open his belly when they covered up the nuclear reactors? Did they hell, much like western corporates they don't care.... The harmonous relationship between automation and labour has been breaking down to cut costs. This as well as outsourcing to nearby China. They have an extremely low birth rate is just one notch above that of Taiwan (lowest). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbot26 Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Assuming a 8 hr day that's roughly 31 days they can have a shutdown for. Judging the state Japan is in I'm guessing supply problems will take some time to resolve especially if they are having rolling black outs. It's a 37.5 hr week so they'll be ok for 6 weeks. My sources say the temporary shutdown is going to be 3 or 4 weeks, solid info should come tomorrow. Strange how employment is virtually destroyed in Swindon yet EA's still price houses at 2007 levels and above, how does that work then ? Any ideas anyone ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan B'Stard MP Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 If anyone can sort it - the japs Kanban. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buccaneer Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 It's a 37.5 hr week so they'll be ok for 6 weeks. My sources say the temporary shutdown is going to be 3 or 4 weeks, solid info should come tomorrow. Strange how employment is virtually destroyed in Swindon yet EA's still price houses at 2007 levels and above, how does that work then ? Any ideas anyone ? Some ideas Housing benefit underpins the rental market so that a cruddy 2 bed flat still commands GBP6k pa+and a poky 4 bed terrace can be let for GBP10k pa +. - Landlords are in profit and have no need to sell - Tenants still believe that 'renting is dead money' - Current low interest rates make monthly mortgage payments lower than monthly rent (people ignore other costs) Distressed owner occupiers have no need to sell - SMI pays mortgage - Interest rates are low. Payments are cheap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Relaxation Suite Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 (edited) Japans economy is never going to recover. Who is going to source parts from a country which is prone to earthquakes/tsunamis. Plenty of other places to buy from. I wouldn't write off the Japanese, Look at that road that was totally destroyed by the tsunami - they had it rebuilt within days. The British would have taken about 27 months to do the same. Edited April 4, 2011 by Tecumseh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interestrateripoff Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 It's a 37.5 hr week so they'll be ok for 6 weeks. My sources say the temporary shutdown is going to be 3 or 4 weeks, solid info should come tomorrow. Strange how employment is virtually destroyed in Swindon yet EA's still price houses at 2007 levels and above, how does that work then ? Any ideas anyone ? Denial? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interestrateripoff Posted April 6, 2011 Author Share Posted April 6, 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12984301 Honda is to halve production at its factory in Swindon from Monday because of a shortage of parts coming from Japan.Honda said that the 3,000 workers would remain on full pay. It was confident that the 22,500 fewer cars that would be built as a result could be made up by the year end. Not a total shutdown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
200p Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 tackle the growing shortage of key components such as satnavs. Since when are Satnavs key components? My car didn't come with one, and it runs OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottbeard Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 I wouldn't write off the Japanese, Look at that road that was totally destroyed by the tsunami - they had it rebuilt within days. The British would have taken about 27 months to do the same. Are you sure? I thought we established the "before" and "after" photos were actually two DIFFERENT stretches of the road. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interestrateripoff Posted April 6, 2011 Author Share Posted April 6, 2011 tackle the growing shortage of key components such as satnavs. Since when are Satnavs key components? My car didn't come with one, and it runs OK. Considering car sales are falling this isn't going to be a problem. Although it's a good excuse for the whole car industry to produce less because of parts shortage rather than low demand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.